Pork (redux)

...but not like an earlier year's pork.

At least not entirely, although the foodie bits are still literal pork. Bacon and eggs for breakfast and pork chops (with bacon-laced fried potatoes and green beans) for dinner. The ham is in the fridge for the Hoppin' John.

But while Congress is still being twerpy, at least my family is pulling itself out of its hole without their reluctant help this time; both adults are gainfully employed, for instance. At the same time.

Lizzy received - among other things - a 2015 calendar for Christmas. This is not unusual in our family, but this year she is obsessed with it. I am kept busy texting everyone in our family whose birthday I don't know, so she can put them down. This is a very deliberate and personalized thing for her; as an example she has a skull with a bow for her Perky Goth sister Abby.

In an hour or so, we're going to start doing a spot of tidying and a lot of laundry, as well as playing with some of the girls' Christmas gifts (Lizzy is dying to do these with Abby and me).

And after dinner we're going for a Game Night with friends.

I love days like this.

A Gamers' Babes Christmas

This was a weird one, for some reason.

It may be that both Laston and I worked yesterday, so we got to Christmas Eve dinner late.

Or that I have to work tomorrow.

Or that the older two were with their respective other parents early this morning (although that happens every other year anyway).

Or that I don't have to study (although the University of Phoenix always takes a couple of weeks off this time of year anyway).

Or even that we still have not had Abby's birthday party, because she had a high fever that day.

Most likely it is a combination of these things.

But I am finding myself unaccountably stymied by things like assembly instructions written in Japanese (I think). It's not like they don't also have pictures, or that I can usually handle things like that (bad language during assembly notwithstanding); I'm still flustered by same.

One of Lizzy's toys was missing pieces (thank Google, because I really did not feel like supervising the Marker Maker with Wacky Tips process today).

In fact, I think  that right there is the issue; I don't want to Make Markers today, or Design Ribbon Barrettes or Build Bookshelves for that matter. Not today.

But I have Sunday and Monday off, and that just seems like a better time for this stuff to me.

And in the meantime, we got lots of great gifts and giggles in the process. Laston and I got new winter coats, and the girls got stuff they love, and in general, We Did Good.

It just feels weird today.

Extroverts Need Alone Time Too

I tend to get mine late at night, after everyone else goes to bed.

But what the introverts in my life don't seem to grok is that I need it.

Just as much as they do, but not quite as often.

And I can't really do the things that need to get done after everyone goes to bed, and the introverts in my family are getting their Alone Time either early in the morning or via headphones and zoning out once I'm home from work.

Today, for example, the Hubs had the kids from when they got home from Grandma's (and oh, are their new haircuts cute, with Abby's little asymmetrical bob and Lizzy's pixie cut! See below) until I got home from work. Then Abby did her homework while Lizzy and I folded laundry (Lizzy is a sockmaster) and Laston got caught up on his computer stuff.

Now, having actually finished school (no grades yet; give it a few more days), one would expect me to have more time, for family, and Things That Must Be Done, and Alone Time.

But that does not take into account things like, oh, December (birthday, holidays, blah blah blah). Or Abby's little habit of leaving homework until the last minute (Sorry, kiddo - if you had done it over the course of the whole week as suggested, you wouldn't have so much tonight. Best you learn that lesson now instead of getting all the way to eighth grade and having no idea how to manage your time. Hence no Once tonight).

But I will have my Alone Time tonight, if I have to bite and scratch to get it.

Or put up with a tearful tween moaning how unfair I am, which is far more likely. Mean Mommy.

And that's after I order groceries for Abby's birthday party, email my favorite baker with the head count (and ask her what I owe her), having already done the dishes (usually Abby's job, but she was mired deep in words that are spelled the same but sound different and mean different things, with Laston helping her only as needed... as should be the case).

So instead of our nightly hour of TV, Abby will be helping me order snacks for her party. And she will like it. Or she will at least shut up about it. And now I need to find another time to clean out under the couch and ferry Christmas decorations in and etc.

I suppose we could do the Christmas decorating after the party, like Sunday...

Who said I'd have more time after school was out again?

Achievement Unlocked

I am a Bachelor of Science.

Sort of.

I mean, I have in fact completed and submitted my final assignments, eleven hours before the deadline, although I won't have my final grade for a week or so. I know I passed, unless I so completely misinterpreted the last two assignments to the point where I get no points at all, and I don't think that is the case.

It's possible that I may be a bit in shock, actually, lightheaded from that load that just dropped off my shoulders.

For those of you who don't think it's a "real" degree because it's online and anyone can get in - you know who you are - do the research. (Sure, it has had some questions, because it's a subsidiary of a corporate entity, instead of getting by with money from, say, football. But it is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission).

Better yet, try taking these classes from home, while looking for or working a full time job, doing the bulk of keeping a household running, and parenting kids.

I dare you.

There should be a smiley face up there, but honestly, I'm too tired to figure out how to put one in. It's been a long haul, folks, but I am - at last, and F^&*ing Algebra notwithstanding - a soon-to-be recipient of a hard-earned diploma in Intercultural Communication.

I think I'll go do something just for me, something that does not involve me discussing the cognitive dissonance experienced by witnesses to school shootings, or which logical fallacy applies to a given situation.

Catch you on the other side of my manicure!

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night...

...nor even Sunday afternoon stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

At least something good comes of the commercialization of the holidays.

I was seriously annoyed that a package I ordered for Saturday delivery did not get delivered Saturday. Even more so when the tracking website suggested it was because we weren't home.

Someone was. 

All day.

And definitely at the time of purported delivery attempt; both adults were in the house at that point. 

And Laston's desk - where he spends most of his non-work, non-sleep, non-housecleaning time - is right in front of the window by the front door. No blinds or curtains on that window. and he's right there.

Hmph.

In any case, I was annoyed, because I wanted the curtains for the kids' rooms and the next four books in Lizzy's Magic Treehouse series, and I wanted them when I asked for them, thank you very much.

So when they showed up midafternoon on Sunday, well... it was a pleasant surprise. 

Thanks, US Postal Service. Swift completion of your completed rounds accomplished.